Current Projects

Photo by Larry Hanelin

FLOW uses modern dance, writing, community dialog, interactive workshops, and public performance to address issues related to the region’s water, rivers and landscapes. It aims to deepen our community’s understanding of water scarcity, riparian ecosystems, and the Santa Cruz River.

This season we are …

… learning the “choreography” of rainwater harvesting in collaboration with Watershed Management Group, a Tucson-based non-profit advocacy group that teaches the public how to re-shape their backyards and industrial landscapes to capture the rain. We’ll be shadowing WMG employees to learn the moves!

… walking the watershed with naturalist Eric Dhruv of the Ironwood Tree Experience, a Tucson-based organization that connects teens with the natural world. Join us on these public tours through Tucson neighborhoods to understand where water flows and how the watershed works.  Read more about these tours and watch a short video here.

… listening to old timers’ stories about the Santa Cruz River. NEW ART company members are conducting oral history interviews with residents of Tucson’s West side neighborhoods who remember when the river flowed. The interviews will inform our choreography and be featured in our riverbed performance, April 2012.

… using movement to better understand and explain the local water cycle. In partnership with Pima County Natural Resources Parks & Recreation Environment Education program, we are offering public workshops and continuing education programs with youth and adults. The workshops are fun and easy, using movement to explore our local water cycle, share stories of our favorite water experiences in the desert. All workshop participants will be invited to perform with us in the riverbed in April 2012. To schedule a workshop, please contact us at: newarticulations@gmail.com.

… creating a spectacle to be performed in the Santa Cruz Riverbed in April 2012. This performance will feature live dancers, video, music, and public participation. Please contact us to see how you can be a part of the river FLOW!

In 2010-11…

We offered workshops over 100 young people in after-school programs in community centers in Pima County through our partnerships with Pima County Natural Resources Parks and Recreation and the Ironwood Tree Experience.

We performed FLOW works-in-progress and offered public workshops at several Tucson venues including the HoCo Family Arts Festival, FOX Theatre, Carnaval, and Tucson River of Words.

We created 5 new works, which we performed at our annual concert at Pima Community College, reflecting local water issues and the history of the Santa Cruz River.

Excerpts from our April 2011 concert, “Watershed,” featuring 5 FLOW works.

Our Partners:

Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation
Watershed Management Group
The Ironwood Tree Experience at the Center for Children and Nature at Prescott College
The Sonoran Institute
The University of Arizona’s Arizona Project WET, Arizona Land and Water Trust

Our funders:
The KRESGE Foundation in collaboration with Tucson Pima Arts Council
Arizona Commission on the Arts
Individual donors, like YOU!

Read more about the Kresge Awards here.